Carcass branding



B. E. WILLIAMS 2,278,039

CARCAS S BRANDING March 31, 1942.

Filed OOL 30, 1940 fievez'iyl fl Z'ZZZZWIZ 'INVENTOR Arresr- 1%. c. 4 M

ATTORNEY losic material for'brandin'g freshly' mal" carcasses.-\ The invention described and claimed lnPatent No.

. nite advantages. However, since the transparent meat-surface. V In carrying out the present invention, the'strip orband' 2 which bears the printed -Patented Mar. 31, 1942 baacass. naannnia.

, I Beverly: :Williams, Chicago)- l Industrial-intent Comm-ti a'corporationotnelaware Applicationnctober so, iced-serial No. 363,513 Y This invention relates to amethod of brandingcarcass. meat and. to meat productsflbranded in accordance with the method. y The invention isconcem'ed with branding edible carcasses, or major portions thereof, after the hide 'or pelthas been removed, and' is particularly-adapted for use in branding suchjcarcasses as beef, lamb, and veal,-using thes e ter'ms 1 I v the thin sheet of tissueceases to exist as'a sheet in the trade sense. i

One of the objects of theinvention is to prowas (s am- '6 as condenser paper, which I have also found satis'factoryin practice. The moisture on, the sur- I ,.:'face 'of the carcass carries'gelatinous material in solution with which the fibersare thoroughly [impregnated and which uponwetting form a firr'n'bond between the tissue and-the meat: The iibrous'nature of these-tissues is such that the wide a method for branding edible carcassesbor major portions thereof, by aflixing'abrand mark in such a manner that the ink will notbein-di- -rect contact with the meat surface, butin such a manner that it may not be readily removed. I

Another object of the 'invention'isto provide a carcass, or a'major porti'on'thereof, which will the desired printed 'indicia, rendering it extremes ly difficult to remove the 7 brand, although re- 15 fmoval can beaccomplished byscrapihg or cut-- display a trade-mark or other indicia'ofquality v or origin in sucha manner that the mark will y .20

appear on the carcass or major portion thereof or ultimate consumer cuts.

Other objects of the invention will be appar- I ent' from the description and claims which follow. l

" In the drawing similar reference charactersin the several figures indicate similarelements:

' Figure 1 is a view or a side of dressed 'beef mm which the; hide has been' removed to-which 1 is aflixed a strip orband 2 bearing a plurality of indicia3., 4

' Figure 2'is a.perspectiv,e v ew ofband ,Zpar- 'tially appliedto thes'uriace of carcass I.

"aonly partially moistened,.since the" moisture in- .moisture'disintegrates the body of the paper, and

.of paperhaving tensile strength andbecomes in eifect} a mere mat of fibers on the surface of the meat, bearing on the outer-surfaceof the meat 'Itfhas beenfound that by using B/tight fitting cloth, for'examp1e,*a muslimxover the-tissue paper brand which hasibeen appl ed to' the warm skinnedsurface "of the carcass, more perfectadherence of the tissue to the meat, and a protective covering for the thin tissue strip is obtained.

the tissue is'used without subsequent application of the cloth; a perfect adhering brand "may not be obtained, because the tissue may be -:the carcass maynot be sufficiently cvenlyldis- In my prior Patent No. 2,083,765, I describe" and claim the employment of'tr'ansparent celluskinned 8.111-

2,083,765 has many defl- I brand may be removed at will.

I'he present invention contemplates a brand which may not "be readily removed" but in which the ink will not be'in direct contact with the indicia'is prepared from athin tissue-jsatisfactory tissues tributed,to wet completely the brandedcarcass, the. moistureof the cloth will evenly moisten the strip at all points. This is important with a tissue strip which disintegrates in orderto produce a uniform legible brand.

"Furthermore, the cloth applied over the warm '35 tissue-branded carcass will absorb moisture, se-

rum, blood, blood spots,.etc., and will do this even, absorbing through the tissue brand. As a result, disfiguring of the brand by blood spots or otherwise is substantially '40,

avoided. 'llie' cloth that maybe applied over the tissue brandmay be a beef sheeting,'muslin, etc The cloth may be moistened before application if the I carcass is not sufllciently moistto effect uniform wetting ofthe cloth and the brand. The moistened cloth will cause complete moistening oi' .the brand, whereby it adheres evenly to the carca l venthoughthecarcass may be deficient are prepared from virgin spruce ,sulphite pulps. I have found in practicethat a seven pound, long fiber tissue or a ten pound short fiber tissue both give excellent results. The tissue strip is applied sue is employed or a cream-colored tissue such 5 to the moist surface of the carcass meat: The

Kthe ,resulti'ng brine soaked in the amount of moisture naturally on the surface thereof. Moreover, the cloth may be moistened with aflsodium chloride saltsolution, and cloth applied over the tissue brand.) The brine soakedcloth in addition'to the property of causing the tissue brand vto. firmly adhere to' the carcasa-alao causes the carcass to remain in a fine state of preservation.

OFFICE v tissue. If, how- ,ever, a cloth is applied tightly over the tissue preferably a. thin tissue.

It will be understood, of course, that the tissue may be applied in the form of a strip or in any other desired shape.

It will be seen that the present/invention provides a branded meat product comprising a carcass or major portion thereof having a brand attractively repeated. The tissue offers no resistance to the division of thecarcass into consumer cuts, and consequently steaks and roasts out from a carcass so branded will bear on the outer edge the desired brand mark which the butcher need not remove. sumer desires to remove done.

The best results are secured incarrying out the present invention upon a freshly skinned carcass the brand it may be which is moist, whereby the gelatinous serums' naturally present no the surface of a carcass are in solution. in the moisture.

The paper upon which the brand is printed is It is necessary for the best results that the paper be not treated in any manner to prevent hydration upon the application of water. .If the surface of the carcass to which the brand is to be applied is not moist, it should be moistened with water. The moisture hydrates the tissue. The hydrated tissue is, of course, semi-transparent. The gelatinous serum conveyed into the interstices of the fibers by the moisture in effect sizes dehydration in whole or in part, the tissue remains semi-transparent.- W

In the claims the term tissue. will be understood to be limited to cellulose papers which may be hydrated in the sense in which the term is used in this specification. The "term carcass as used in the claims includes, in addition to the skinned whole carcass, majorportions thereof such as the sides. 7

This application is a continuation in part of my earlier application Serial No. 155,049, filed July 22, 1937.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the invention as hereinbefore set forth may be made without diverting from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore 'only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of treating edible carcasses which comprises applying to the moist, freshly the paper, whereby after;

If the ultimate conskinned surface a tissue paper bearing identifying marks, said tissue paper tending to become disfigured by absorption of blood and moisture from the carcass, and covering said tissue with a cloth to absorb said blood and moisture through the tissue paper whereby improved identifying marks are obtained.

2. The method of treating edible carcasses which comprises applying to the moist, freshly skinned surface a iibrous'cellulose tissue bearing identifying marks, said tissue tending to disintegrate and to leave the identifying marks on the carcass, and covering said tissue with a. tightly fitting cloth to absorb blood and moisture and to cause smooth adherence of the tissue to the car cass, whereby improved identifying marks are obtained.

3. The method. of treating edible carcasses which comprises applying to the moist, freshly skinned surface a tissue paper bearing identifying marks, said tissue tending to disintegrate and leave diflicultly removable identifying marks on the carcass, and covering said tissue applied carcass with a cloth whereby the cloth absorbs the moisture from the carcass to produce a moist cloth which causes smooth adherence of the tissue to the carcass and uniform disintegration thereby.

4. The method of treating edible carcasses, which comprises applying to the skinned surface, before the carcass has lost its animal hea a tissue paper bearing identifying marks and a cloth, said tissue tending to disintegrate by the moisture from the carcass and said cloth tending to absorb the moisture and blood, whereby the tissue is less soiled and is disintegrated more evenly than without said cloth, and removing said cloth after the animal heat has been dissipated to produce'a carcass bearing difficultly removable identifying marks.

5. The method of treating edible carcasses which comprises applying to the moist freshly skinned carcass a thin semi-transparent tissue paper bearing identifying marks, said tissue tending to become disfigured by absorption of blood and moisture from the carcass, and covering said tissue with a" brine moistened cloth to cause the tissue to firmly adhere to the carcass and to preserve the carcass'and the appearance of the tissue. 

